Geographic Notes 



1 5 



certain trees stop because of excess of 

 water in the soil, and so on, is depriv- 

 ing the term of its fixed and definite 

 value. 



While on the subject of Professor 

 Russell's note, I may be permitted to 

 suggest further that the lower limit of 

 tree growth in many parts of the West 

 is determined by temperature rather 

 than aridity, though in some cases aridity 

 is the controlling factor. To avoid mis- 

 interpretation, it ma) r be well to call 

 attention to the self-evident fact that 

 the temperature along the lower limit 

 of timber on our western mountains is 

 not, of course, too high for all tree 

 growth, but too high for the particular 

 hind or kinds of trees which flourish in 

 that particular region. Thus the lower 

 limits of the yellow pine and of the sev- 

 eral species of juniper and nut pine are 

 determined by definite temperatures. 

 Other kinds of trees flourish at higher 

 temperatures, but these trees have not 

 access to the region. 



C. Hart Merriam. 



BUREAU OF FORESTRY 



THE work begun in 1902 by the 

 Bureau of Forestry to check the 

 advance of the sand dunes along the 

 southeastern coast of the United States 

 and in other sections of the country is 

 being continued this year. 



In southern Virginia and northern 

 North Carolina a chain of immense sand 

 dunes stretches north and south along 

 the coast. These dunes are moving 

 slowly landward, and within the last 

 few years have become dangerous to 

 the United States life-saving stations 

 and to private property of large value. 

 Some time ago, at the request of a 

 number of private owners, the Bureau 

 made an examination of a district in 

 Currituck County, N. C, and began 

 work at one point to fix the drifting 

 sand sufficiently to permit forest plant- 

 ing. In cooperation with the owners of 



the land, board fences and other struc- 

 tures were erected to alter the course 

 of the most threatening dunes. The 

 work was so successful that last spring 

 the ground was in condition for the 

 planting of beach grass, which is being 

 used temporarily as a cover. With a 

 fair growth of grass this season, forest 

 planting on from 30 to 50 acres may be 

 begun this year. The forest, besides 

 protecting the buildings, will yield a 

 much-needed supply of fuel. At other 

 points in the same district, which ex- 

 tends 30 miles along the coast, the 

 Bureau is now giving similar aid.* 



An investigation is also being made 

 of the dunes formed by the drift sand 

 along the Columbia River in Washing- 

 ton and Oregon. The dunes are destroy- 

 ing valuable orchards and rich agri- 

 cultural lands. They form serious 

 hindrances to transportation along the 

 lines of the Northern Pacific Railway 

 and the Oregon Railroad and Naviga- 

 tion Company. After a careful exami- 

 nation the Bureau will attempt to de- 

 vise methods for controlling the move- 

 ment of the sand. The Oregon Railroad 

 and Navigation Company is assisting 

 in the investigation. 



ARGENTINA-CHILE BOUNDARY 

 AWARD 



THE decision rendered in the Ar- 

 gentina-Chile boundary dispute 

 by King Edward VII is in the nature 

 of a compromise. Argentina receives 

 about 15,600 square miles of the dis- 

 puted territory and Chile about 21,000. 

 The area acquired by Argentina is the 

 more fertile and valuable agriculturally 

 and includes the upper valleys of several 

 rivers flowing into the Pacific. Chile 

 gains a large area of forest country and 

 many square miles of upland, where 

 large flocks of sheep can roam. The 

 results of this dispute have been the 



*See " Report of the Forester for 1902," by 

 Gifford Pinchot. Pp. 135. 



